"Winter's Bone" Leads 2011 Spirit Award Nominations

The nominations for the 26th Film Independent's Spirit Awards were unveiled this morning in Los Angeles, with Debra Granik's "Winter's Bone" leading with seven nominations, including best feature, best director, best screenplay, and acting nominations for Jennifer Lawrence, Dale Dickey, and John Hawkes. The 2010 Sundance Grand Jury Prize winner also took Best Feature Monday night at the Gotham Awards in New York City.

The nominations for the 26th Film Independent's Spirit Awards were unveiled this morning in Los Angeles, with Debra Granik's "Winter's Bone" leading with seven nominations, including best feature, best director, best screenplay, and acting nominations for Jennifer Lawrence, Dale Dickey, and John Hawkes. The 2010 Sundance Grand Jury Prize winner also took Best Feature Monday night at the Gotham Awards in New York City.

Other major nominees included Lisa Cholodenko's "The Kids Are All Right," which received 5 nominations, Darren Aronofsky's "Black Swan," and John Cameron Mitchell's "Rabbit Hole," which each took four. "Kids" and "Swan" joined "Winter's Bone" in the best feature category, along with Noah Baumbach's "Greenberg" and Danny Boyle's "127 Hours."

“The artistic side of independent film is stronger than ever, and it’s especially impressive to see the developed craft of extraordinary independent filmmakers who have only gotten better over the years," said Film Independent Executive Director Dawn Hudson. "Past nominees such as Darren Aronofsky, Noah Baumbach, Danny Boyle, Lisa Cholodenko, Debra Granik, Nicole Holofcener and John Cameron Mitchell continue to create original and compelling films that move and amaze us.”

With the Spirit nominations, Anne Thompson says "Winter's Bone," "Black Swan," and "The Kids are All Right" are all solidifying their status as likely Oscar contenders.

Joel McHale will host the 2011 Film Independent Sprit Awards in Santa Monica on Saturday, February 26 at 2:00 p.m. The awards show air exclusively that night on IFC at 10:00 p.m. ET/PT.

John Cassavetes Award(Given to the best feature made for under $500,000; award given to the writer, director, and producer)"Daddy Longlegs," written and directed by Benny Safdie and Josh Safdie; Producers: Casey Neistat, Tom Scott"The Exploding Girl," written and directed by Bardley Rust Gray; Producers: Karen Chien, Ben Howe, So Yong Kim"Lbs.," directed by Matthew Bonifacio, written by Matthew Bonifacio and Carmine Famiglietti; Producers: Matthew Bonifacio, Carmine Famiglietti"Lovers of Hate," written and directed by Bryan Poyser; Producer: Megan Gilbride"Obsedila," written and directed by Diane Bell; Producers: Chris Byrne, Mathew Medlin